Why the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were the biggest stars in LA

Expat Briton James Aldous says the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's visit to
Los Angeles was an undeniable success.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attend a BAFTA event during their royal visit to Los AngelesPhoto: Rex Features

11:59AM BST 13 Jul 2011

The arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge last week in LA – for three days after their tour across Canada – caused a great deal of excitement in America. For a city like LA where celebrity culture often dominates, how did the city’s residents and British expat community respond to the visit of the celebrity couple of the hour?

Sadly missing from their itinerary was an opportunity for them to meet the masses. There was no drive by parade or meet-and-greet opportunity through the streets of LA where they could meet the city’s public. This trip was kept very contained, tightly controlled and strictly for those with tickets or access to the small number of events on the pairs’ packed schedule.

For those that were fortunate to see them at one of the events they attended however, it was a chance to be part of history, for this was the first official visit of the couple to foreign soil. It was also a chance to glance at the future King and Queen of England and see them participate in some of the organisations and causes close to their hearts. They managed to pack quite a bit into their brief trip here, including an event promoting London’s Tech City initiative at the Variety Venture Capital and New Media Summit, a BAFTA event celebrating up-and-coming British talent, a charity polo match in Santa Barbara, a visit to Inner City Arts in Downtown LA and a veteran jobs fair at the Sony studios in Culver City.

Indeed, during the Duke's speech at the polo match he hinted at his harsh schedule over the previous 12 days, and suggested that he was pleased to be able to let his hair down and have a great time playing polo. This, despite being tackled by the only girl on the playing field during the match, and being referred to as Prince Charles on more than one occasion by the match commentator.

Craig Young – a British actor who has been here for 12 years and is one of the organisers of "Brits in LA", an expat group which put together California’s largest live viewing party for the Royal Wedding back in April – attended the polo match and said how the crowd went “nuts” when the Duchess presented the cup and kissed her husband on the cheek.

“The whole field of people attending in the cheaper ticket area rushed over to the presentation stand to get a glimpse," he said.

Their enthusiasm and eagerness to see the couple clearly paid off.

“The presentation stand trailer was actually brought closer to us so we had a better view than those paying for the $4,000 tickets with the sit-down lunch included.”

The coverage of their visit in the US media was intense, with live footage of their every appearance and move. As they stepped foot into camera shot, journalists would immediately be issued emails detailing everything the Duchess was wearing. It seems that her fashion choices throughout the trip were widely hailed as a success – proof that the money on her wardrobe was well spent.

But what of the legacy of their trip? For me, there was too little attention placed on the detail of the organisations they visited. Inner City Arts – an organisation that teaches skills and tools to children in some of LA’s poorest neighbourhood they need to succeed personally and academically – lacked the attention it should have been given and the valuable work it does. KTLA – one of the major local news outlets – met with and spoke to some of the homeless in the Skid Row area, many of which had no idea the couple were visiting. What real effect did their visit into this extremely deprived area of downtown LA have? The same too for their trip to the veteran jobs fair in Culver City, where ex-military personnel were seeking employment options after their military service.

But for a great deal of people the couple's visit did help highlight British interests on a global stage. Young believes they ”did Britain a hell of good by coming here” and believes there will be many Americans planning trips to the UK as a result.

“People in California were really pleased they came,” he added.

James Aldous, who works in communications, recently moved to Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter here.